The training started...I didn't know what in the world I was doing, but I printed out a schedule, made a calender, and tried my best to stick to it. I have to say, I love training. One of the things I love most about it is the friendships it creates. I found out that my next door neighbor, Summer Dunn, also loved to bike, so we started to ride together sometimes, and then, before she knew what hit her, she was talked into doing the half ironman with us! Summer and Jenny are both amazing runners, so I did my running training by myself, but Summer and I spent a lot of time on the bike and in Utah Lake together.
August 25 came quickly. Summer, Jenny, and I drove to the race together, set up our transition stations, used the bathrooms, and were ready to go. The race started almost an hour late, but other than being really nervous, I felt great. I hung back on the swim a little at first to let people spread out, but as I started swimming, I felt someone almost swimming over the top of me. The next thing I knew, my timing chip was pulled off my ankle! I stopped swimming and looked back, and a lady behind me had it in her hand, she looked just as confused as I felt! I grabbed it from her and continued on with my swim. It took me a minute to get back into my groove, but with a little prayer, I calmed down and was able to feel comfortable again. I swam the whole swim with my timing chip in my hand, but I found out later that the small chip part dropped somewhere in the lake, so my whole race was not timed! It's funny, just before the race started, Summer and I were saying to each other that if our chip fell off during the swim, we wouldn't finish the race. I'm a big talker because there was no way, after all that training, that I wasn't going to finish the race.
The bike was perfect! I loved every second of it! It was a flat, fast course, with hardly any wind. The only thing that made me a little mad on the bike was when I was stung by a dang wasp! What the??? Other than that, I felt good and had a chance to eat and drink and get ready for the half marathon that I had ahead of me.
The run was by far the hardest part for me...and I knew it would be. I felt good the first 6-7 miles, but by the 8th mile I was done. I started walking, feeling a little sorry for myself, and one of our friends from cycling, Colter Hammer ran up beside me. He was my angel! He encouraged me to start running again and told me that he would be at the finish line waiting for me. My next big hurdle happened when my Garmin said that I had run 13 miles, and the kids at the aid station said I still had a mile to go! I'm still convinced my GPS was correct, and at 13.1 I almost sat down and waited till they moved the finish line to me! But I pushed through, complaining to myself and anyone else that would listen the whole rest of the way! Colter came and ran the last half mile or so with me, and again that helped me so much! I FINISHED!!! I don't know my time, but I finished! It was a great experience and I'm so glad that I did it. Both Jenny and Summer did a great job, both passing me on the run, and they finished strong. GOOD JOB!!!
Rick had to go to Connor's first football game so he wasn't able to come to the race, but my mom came and was there the whole time. I was so thankful for her being there - especially at mile 6 - when I needed her to tell me that I was doing great. It was a perfect day. The weather was great, the volunteers were amazing, every aid station on the run had cold water, misters, and coke, and I did it with great friends. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
